Commentary: Imagine what impact Gates would have with Catholic teaching on her side.

It was billed as a major clash: Melinda Gates — the Catholic woman whose husband, Bill, is one of the richest men on the planet — vs. the Pope.

But you may have noticed one thing missing. The stories all told us about Gates’ heroic stand promoting contraception. But none of them had an intelligent defense of the Church’s teaching on contraception and true development in poor countries.

That’s a shame, because the Church is very much in the right on this issue, and Melinda Gates and the contraceptive imperialists she has enriched are very much in the wrong.

The Gates Foundation gift was announced at the London Summit on Family Planning, which has three goals:

1. Convince the world that the best way to fight poverty is to prevent poor people from being born.

2. Put systems in place to make every conceivable contraceptive available to the poor at all times.

3. Ease the way for legal abortion.

(That’s a translation. The way London Summit organizers say it on their website is this: “1. Revitalize global commitments to family planning and access to contraceptives as a cost-effective and transformational development priority. 2. Improve the access and distribution of contraceptive supplies. 3. Remove and reduce barriers to family planning.”)

Clicking through their website, you start to see the strange backward logic of the family-planning philosophy.

“Contraceptives are one of the best investments a country can make in its future,” announces the London Summit, with no hint of irony. “Each U.S. dollar spent on family planning can save governments up to $6 on health, housing, water and other public services.”

In other words, the best way to help poor people feed children is to eliminate them in the first place so they won’t have to be fed. And the cheapest way to take care of them is to not have to take care of them.

Compare that to a basic Catholic statement about service to the poor, from the Catechism (2439): “Rich nations have a grave moral responsibility toward those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves or have been prevented from doing so by tragic historical events.”

The Church believes that rich nations should increase the availability of resources to the poor. Family planners believe that rich nations should reduce the number of human beings using resources.

If they don’t want to read the Catholic Catechism, perhaps the Gates Foundation folks should read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge had exactly their answer to poverty: “Decrease the surplus population.”

The Ghost of Christmas Present put him in his place: “It may be that in the sight of heaven you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. Oh God! To hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!”

Read on at the website, and you learn another dimension to the family-planning philosophy — and this is the one Melinda Gates most often pointed to in interviews: “Family planning saves lives.”

The Gates Foundation’s website explains how family planning saves lives: “Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for women under 19, with complications of childbirth and abortion being the major factors. Adolescents aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as those in their 20s, and girls under 15 are five times as likely to die as those in their 20s.”

In other words, the Gates Foundation is seeing a situation in which guys are having sex with girls so young that pregnancy endangers them. Their answer isn’t to influence the culture to dissuade guys from having sex with dangerously young girls — their answer is to load those girls up with contraception.

When they see young girls endangered by sex, their instinct isn’t to protect the girls — it’s to protect the sex.

The Gates Foundation has great optimism about how they can change attitudes and behavior — but they have decided not to change the culture’s attitudes about sex with underage girls. They want to change underage girls’ attitudes about using contraception.

A guiding light for the London Summit approach to cultural change is the Population Council’s “Family Planning Programs for the 21st Century” report.

Family planners are promoting contraception in Third World countries through radio soaps and television program storylines. They promote it in health centers, schools, door-to-door outreach and meetings in the workplace. They use pictorial logos, slogans, celebrity spokespersons and songs and jingles. There are contraceptive-themed giveaways and novelty items, contests and awards.

Says the report: “Entire populations have moved along the stages of behavior change from knowing little and disapproving greatly,” regarding contraception, “to becoming informed, persuaded and motivated to act.”

This is the New Evangelization as applied to the contraceptive mentality; it is the calculated transformation of cultures that are open to life into cultures that are closed to life using the most sophisticated methods available and huge sums of money.

Imagine if all of this attention and effort were spent on helping people improve their sexual behaviors: learning continence, self-respect, self-giving love and responsibility. Gates’ money could do a truly great thing.

This is exactly the approach that worked in Uganda against AIDS. Craig Timberg recently published Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It, a book about how AIDS spread in Africa. In an interview with Salon magazine, he describes how “Uganda emerged in the early days of the epidemic as a place that took effective action, changed people’s behavior and lowered HIV transmission.”

In 1986, he said, Uganda’s new government got real about AIDS. “They knew it was fatal, they knew it was incurable, they knew it was spread by sex, and they knew a lot of people already had it. So political, religious and cultural leaders focused on changing the sexual behavior that was at the core of HIV’s spread.”

Uganda’s campaign spoke to the agrarian population with an agrarian metaphor that the people understood: “Zero grazing.” Sex with multiple partners was a deadly risk. So it had to stop. Uganda’s lesson was clear: “If a large number of people make a relatively small change in their number of sex partners, it can make a massive difference in the spread of HIV. That’s what happened in Uganda, and hundreds of thousands of lives were saved.”

But he also pointed out that the “powers that be in global health” were reluctant to apply that lesson.

“The overriding lesson is that sex matters,” he said. “Those of us who care about people getting this terrible disease can’t be squeamish in discussing sexual behavior because we’re afraid of how it makes us look.”

Catholics know well that sex matters. The balanced, profound Catholic teaching on human sexuality gives us the tools we need to address sexual questions with sensitivity to the whole human person, with their moral, psychological and social dimensions intact. If Melinda Gates used her money to promote what the Church teaches about responsible sexuality and the dignity of the human person, she could do a lot of good.

Pope Benedict warned in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate that mass promotion of contraception and abortion quickly become power plays in which rich nations control poor ones.

The contraceptive mentality also has ramifications beyond the realm of the sexual. “When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up losing the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good,” he wrote. “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.”

But Gates didn’t opt for the Catholic view. She opted for the sexual imperialists who do the opposite of what the Church would do.

They go to cultures that see children as a blessing to be welcomed and teach them to see children as a threat to be blocked. They go to cultures that are marked by joy and life and teach them our Western ways, which are marked by depression and the culture of death.

Their policies suggest that they are aghast not at poverty, but at poor people. Their answer isn’t more food, but fewer mouths to feed. The problem they see in Africa isn’t that there is too little opportunity for Africans — it’s that there are too many Africans.

Tom Hoopes is writer in residence at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

Comments

Thank you very much for publishing this. I’ll share it with other pro-lifers. And I would like to ask for prayers for our country, the Philippines, as we continue our fight not to allow the proposed Reproductive Health Bill in our Congress and Senate to be passed into a law.

Posted by ML on Wednesday, Aug 8, 2012 3:14 PM (EDT):

If Mrs Gates really cared about women she would use her millions to help orphans and single moms, the real victims of the safe sex propaganda, and then promote NFP and chastity, which are in essence FREE

Posted by Mary@42 on Thursday, Aug 2, 2012 5:19 AM (EDT):

Matt B, we sure would have been able to do just that. But Obama ensured that the Constitution we passed binds us to automatically accept, and be bound, by all International Conventions. When our President, assured the Nation that no Clause which would threaten the Family and the Sanctity of Life and our African Morals on the dignity of Sexuality would be included in the Constitution, Planned Parenthood and Obama were alarmed. So, Hillary Clinton wrote a very strong protest letter to Nzamba Kitonga, the Chairman of the Constitutional Commission of Kenya, ordering him to use all means at his disposal to ensure that those Clauses were enshrined in the new Constitution. She, in fact, threatened that any assistance Kenya would receive from American would depend on those Clauses being prominent in our new Constitution under the highly protected Bill of Rights to ensure it shall never, ever be amended. But we have not lost hope. Our very strong African Culture regarding the Family and the Sanctity of Fidelity in Marraige,the dignity about human sexuality,the reverence we have for chastity before marriage, our love for children and the sacredness of life from conception to natural death and with God on our side, we shall win. It will be a bitter and bruising War, but we shall win in the end. It is will tragic if you, Americans, re-elect Obama because every country which is under the oppressive influence of America will be in deep trouble. I read above that Melinda Gates wants to assist our pre-teen girls who are married off to old men by providing them with contraceptives and sterilization. This is a BIG, BIG, FAT LIE. The tribes in Kenya who practice this custom are the smallest tribes in Kenya; the Illchaum, Rendile at the remotest North Western of Kenya and the Masaai who live at the border with Tanzania. At the recent Census they count for a mere 0.009% of Kenyan Population. And even here, this practice is dying a natural death due to the influence of the Catholic Church. The average marriage age in Kenya is 25 years for girls and 30 years for boys and has been for the last 40 years or so. This was further strengthened when we elected our Catholic President in 2002. He immediately introduced free Primary Education followed by Secondary Education. The School enrollment rose by over 500% since the infrastructures were already there but had been run down during the 24 years’ misrule of ex-President Daniel Moi - a puppet of the British. The Government also has in place Education Loans Board which advances loans to students in our Universities, both Public and Private which they begin to repay over a period of 10 years when they are either employed or self-employed in their own businesses. Along with the 12 Public Universities, we have over 30 Private Universities. Our AMECEA Catholic University of Eastern Africa is among those who charge the lowest fees to ensure that even students from the poorest families access University Education. At present it has a Student Population of over 3,000. The ambition of every Kenyan parent is to educate their children at all costs. Children Education is, and has always been Priority Number One in every Family since I was born 74 years ago!!!!. The truth is that our children are able to obtain 12 years of compulsory Education up to Secondary School, then proceed to College or join the 210 Village Polytechnics established in all our Constituencies, hence, late marriage at the average ages I have given above. Those who proceed to Colleges, have another six years in School. Kenya is the one country in the Eastern and Central Africa which has the most educated population and our Students in the Diaspora are over 6,000,000. These young adults are fully aware of what the Obama and Planned Parenthood have in store for our country and are totally opposed to it. They, too, have begun a vicious campaign against Belinda Gates’ malevolence attack against our Country and Africa as a whole. As Kenya approaches the General Elections in March next year, when that Melinda Gates’ Abomination is presented to our Parliament, it will be swiftly defeated because our Politicians know Kenyans have been alerted about it through the Vernacular FM Radio Stations which broadcast in every language in Kenya and have totally rejected it. And any Member of Parliament or an aspiring Member of Parliament must support the Voters if they ever hope to be re-elected or elected. Once again, thanks to our Catholic President, who opened up the airwaves, Kenyan Businessmen own these Radio FM Stations which reach the farthest corners of our Country. Even though, again with Obama-funded NGOs who pushed for the appointment of the drafter of the Reproductive Health Bill as the Chief Justice, if anyone dares to challenge Parliament’s decision to throw out that Legislation, no Judge will dare to overturn it since Judges are now under vetting and very many and prominent Judges have lost their jobs already. And no Judge would dare to go against the wishes of the Kenyan Population. All what we are asking you, our beloved Americans, is to ensure you DO NOT re-elect Obama and the world will be safe and God will win this War against the Infant Genocide of Belinda Gates and her Marxist Culture of Death Brigade.

Posted by Matt B on Monday, Jul 30, 2012 2:51 PM (EDT):

Wow, Mary@42, it sounds like Kenya should be exporting laws and morals into the US. It won’t be long before that happens, as all our power-structure is like a rotting tooth, about to fall out.

Posted by Mary@42 on Monday, Jul 30, 2012 5:05 AM (EDT):

Thank you, Ann Marie. Yes, here in Kenya we know all about the Planned Parenthood and its Marxist Creed of Death for the Unwanted. In 2007/2008 when we were busty butchering one another at the height of genocide because that Obama Cousing lied that his victory had been stolen when, in fact, he had actually lost the Presidential Elections fare and square, Planned Parenthood sent through American-financed NGOs, Bill of Rights Clauses to be included in our new Constitution. The Clauses which are now contained in this protected Bill of Rights, allow abortion to be performed, not by and only with the recommendation of three (3) Qualified Medical Practitioners - as the then current Laws stipulated - by by any Health Worker!!!. Sex education will be taught in Schools to children from 10 years and supply of contraceptives to them be freely given in schools and abortions procured for them when they get pregnant. All these without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Should any parent come to know of this and object, they will be liable to jail term for interfering with the children’s “Human Rights”. The same Provisions permit same sex marriages under the guise that no one will be discriminated because of their sex orientations. The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission and our Bishops fought vigorously to have these Clauses deleted from the Draft Constitution. Obama stepped up his vicious campaign by financing those NGOs and the Politicians who supported these Clauses and even sent his B Vice President Biden a pseudo Catholic, to ensure those anti-God, anti-Family and anti-life Clauses remained in the Constitution. We are fully alive to what lies ahead and what Planned Parenthood has in store for our country’s poor - who in fact, form almost 80% of our entire Population. But we are strengthened by the fact that, firstly, our African Culture abhors abortions, homosexuality and lesbianism as abominations. We revere and love children and large families, no matter how poor one is. Introduction of sex issues to children children before they have reached the age of reason is anathema to an African; chastity before marriage is highly rated and practiced and is inculcated to teenagers by their parents and elders. Efforts to destroy these time-honoured African Culture and Norms through Western lifestyles have not taken root, except among the minority wealthy Families who live in the Cities. Secondly and crucially, God is on our side. All Christians who form 90% of Kenyan Population are against these Clauses. The Head of Catholic Church in Kenya warned us with these words : “You are going to pass this Constitution with those Culture of Death Clauses; but when they begin to be implemented, and you come to realize the calamity you have brought upon yourselves, you shall remember that the Catholic Church had warned you”. These prophetic words are bearing fruit and a quiet but intense opposition to Melinda Gates and her Death Merchants has begun to grow and spread to the farthest corners of our Country through the Vernacular FM Radio Stations. When they begin to implement what they passed in London, they will face the greatest opposition just the way when Abortion Clinics - such as the Marie Stopes Family Planning Clinics were opened all over in our Rural Areas and Government Hospitals begun to steralize mothers who had had four children without their knowledge, mothers boycotted giving birth in Hospitals and went back to Traditional Birth Attendants. The Abortion Clinics were also boycotted and, eventually they had to be shut down. Melinda Gates will not win in Africa because they are challenging God directly.

Posted by I_M_Foreman on Monday, Jul 30, 2012 2:14 AM (EDT):

All the money in the world cannot change the fact that if you stray from Catholic teaching and then talk about how it is not wrong then you are a heretic

Posted by sabastin shiril on Sunday, Jul 29, 2012 1:23 PM (EDT):

when you are rich you become super and the poor become untouchable. so they look the ways for elimanting the poor so religion become a problem. they are finding the way to eliminate the poor is cotraceptive. so less people less problem thats how they think. look at amazon owner gave money for same sex marriage. so catolic religion goes back one more step backwards. think about life and look for ways to protect it, she should go and live in china because that govt does that.

Posted by Carrie Wehmeyer on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 10:59 PM (EDT):

Matt B, I cannot agree with your assertion that promulgating false teachings is better than nothing at all. It is in fact a mortal sin. Being wealthy is not a justification for being a bad Catholic. Melinda Gates is not promoting Catholicism, an argument could be made that she is promoting eugenicism, which is in direct opposition to Church teaching. Please do not buy into the “2 + 2 isn’t 5, but that was a good try” mentality.

Posted by TA on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 6:16 PM (EDT):

Thank you .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
My husband and I went on a teaching adventure to West Africa in the 1970s. Of course I was taking a contraceptive. The people there, especially one friend, kept asking me why I didn’t want children. The women taught me the dignity and joy of motherhood. I came home pregnant and could not go back on the pill. I learned so much. I also learned about death. Yes, children die so the more children one has, the better the life of the family since all work to feed each other. Children were a source of wealth and health in many ways. I still speak with my friend—thank God—because I still need to be reminded that the true joy in life is sharing it.

Perhaps the tone with which this article was written is somewhat angry/arrogant but he speaks the truth; Gates is not concerned about the people. That young girl needs protection not contraception so she can be used by another man.

Posted by Matt B on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 5:09 PM (EDT):

I congratulate Melinda Gates a lot for promoting Catholicism in the only way it’s acceptable for people in her socio-economic class. If a woman of such prominance as Mrs. Gates demonstrated in her life and charitable giving the unvarnished truth of the faith, the people of her milieu would explode like deep sea fish exposed to light.

You see this type of behavior in other politically powerful Catholics like Cheri Blair. It’s simply inconceivable for them to talk honestly about sexual ethics or a consistent defense of life. You have to evaluate their behavior in reference to their surroundings. You wouldn’t expect a filthy street denizen to pronounce articulately the king’s english, nor should you expect Catholics like Gates or Blair to speak intelligibly about morals.

Let’s be grateful that she makes an attempt to speak at all, and rely on God to do the rest.

Posted by Ann Marie on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 4:08 PM (EDT):

Dear Mary@42

You are absolutely right and have hit the nail on the head. Many Catholic parents (along with many other US parents) have abdicated their responsibilities as parents to teach their children morals & ethics. It all begins in the home. Unfortunately, since the 1960s, we have seen the structure of the family fall apart due to many circumstances such as a high divorce rate, decline in morals, etc.

With regard to the birth control issue in your beautiful country, I pray that you will be able to stand strong against the Culture of Death movement. I urge all Kenyan Catholics to familiarize yourselves with the sordid history of Planned Parenthood and the great harm it has done to our African American society and to other minority groups. They will do the same to you if you don’t fight back!

Here is a very good summary of the history of Planned Parenthood and an excellent insight into the true motivations behind PP. The first 3 paragraphs are a real eye-opener!

Pass this information on to all of your family, friends, and colleagues - spread the word! Truthful information has great power. Also, visit Priests for Life website, Lifesite news - http://www.lifesitenews.com/; Prolife website http://www.prolife.com/; National Right to Life- http://www.nrlc.org/ for more information on how to fight these evil organizations.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION FACILITIES TARGET AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES (complete article @ http://lifeissues.org/ )
By Susan W. Enouen, P.E.

Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, African Americans have taken a disproportionate blow to their population growth. Although today there are thirty-four million African Americans in the US, fourteen million unborn black American babies have been aborted since 1973, representing over one fourth of their potential population.1 Today, blacks account for 12.3% of the American population, but African American women receive 36% of the abortions and are three times more likely than white women to have an abortion.2 The sad fact is, more African American babies have been killed by abortion since 1973 than the total number of African American deaths from AIDS, violent crimes, accidents, cancer and heart disease combined.3

One key factor that has contributed to this tragedy is the lasting influence of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Sanger began the “Negro Project” in 1939 to promote birth control as a solution to the poverty and degradation experienced, at that time, by blacks in general. Sanger was a strong proponent of birth control for the “unfit” in society, who she believed should be discouraged from reproducing.4 Sanger sought to prevent the growth of certain segments of society, including blacks, through legislation or easy availability of sterilization and birth control. She recognized that these efforts might be seen as an attempt at racial genocide, and that the best approach must include recruiting and training African American doctors and ministers to help with the project. Margaret wrote in a letter to Clarence Gamble dated October 19, 1939, “The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”5 She convinced black leaders that birth control and sterilization would “improve the welfare of the Negro population,” and she enlisted their help in a mission to reduce maternal and infant mortality through birth control (as opposed to better pre-natal and medical care).6 Thus began an undeniable effort to limit the growth of the African American population, irrespective of the intent.

Margaret Sanger’s legacy to society is represented and promoted today by Planned Parenthood. For years, pro-life leaders have insisted that Planned Parenthood has targeted African Americans for abortion by placing their abortion facilities in black communities. Two separate studies relying on Census 2000 statistics verify that this claim is indeed supported by the data. Randy Hall of CNSNews published results of the first study in a Feb. 7, 2005 article, “Abortion Causing ‘Black Genocide,’ Activists Say.”7 Although Planned Parenthood does not provide a comprehensive list of its abortion facilities, Hall obtained the locations of 160 US Planned Parenthood abortion outlets from the website of Stop Planned Parenthood (STOPP) International. Hall compared the percentage of African Americans in the cities where these facilities were located to the percentage of African Americans living in that particular state. The results showed that 62.5% of these Planned Parenthood facilities were located in cities having a higher black percentage than the state.

Posted by New Yorker on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 3:16 PM (EDT):

Starzec, the pil was introduced in the early 1960’s. About 10 years later we have a divorce rate of 50% and legalized abortion across America. And, you don’t see any connection? Artificial birth control breeds promiscuity, which leads to more divorce, more unwanted pregnancies, more pornography, and the general cheapening of relationships between men and women.

Posted by Mary@42 on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 6:57 AM (EDT):

I am 2 months’shy of 74 years and I was not taught my Catholic Faith by the Sunday Sermons of the Priests. I was taught by my own father and mother what it means to be an authentic Catholic. In turn I taught my children, who now have their own families how to be good authentic Catholics. I wish you Americans would stop blaming your Priests and Bishops. It is your wrong parenting, and your own behaviour which is the “parent"of the Melinda Gates Culture of Death. We here in Africa will not accept to be killed, no matter how poor we are. We love our children. I was married when I was 17 years and I did not die in childbirth of my five children. Our Catholic Church here in Kenya has already reprimanded our Government Minister who attended that Conference and signed the Accord. The Bishops have emphatically stated : KENYA WILL NOT ACCEPT THE MASS MURDER OF OUR POOR by Melinda Gates and the Culture of Death Imperialists. GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED AND KEEP SILENT.

Posted by Ann Marie on Saturday, Jul 28, 2012 3:59 AM (EDT):

cowalker-

This is off subject, but sometime back you vehemently disputed the fact that many elderly in the Netherlands and Belgium are in fear of forced euthanasia and that it simply was fear-mongering and that I simply didnt know what i was talking about despite the fact that I am Dutch/Belgian who makes frequent trips to holland & Belgium and have first hand knowledge of the situtation.
Two items, I just returned from a trip to Holland & Belgium. It’s a very hot topic. Every single senior member of our family & friends are gravely concerned that the situation has not changed and is becoming worse. Mind you, these are highly educated individuals—a few are retired physicians. One of my family members is also a retired judge. He gave me a link to a document article in english for you to read.http://www.ieb-eib.org/nl/pdf/euthanasia-practice-in-belgium.pdf I had. decided not to bother because it is evident that no matter how many truthful facts that readers present to you, either you ignore them or twist them like a rubber nose into a felacious ,contra-argument. So why waste my time? HOWEVER, when another NCR subscriber posted this, I immediately thought of you http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161869/Top-doctors-chilling-claim-The-NHS-kills-
130-000-elderly-patients-year.html. I hope that this will soften your heart and open your mind to the truth. Every time I read about or hear of U.S. doctors who are worried about health care rationing for their elderly patients, I think of your grandmother and pray for happiness and health.

Actually, one of our friends is a neurologist and professor of medicine at a university medical center.. Last week he attended a neurology meeting at his school of medicine on the new Obamacare regs set to commence in two weeks. So here’s the new protocol for treating a a patient over the age of 67 who presents to the ER with a brain hemorrhage. These doctors have been instructed to severely curtail the usual care protocol; and give the older patient substandard care. They will not be allowed to receive the ,usual surgery or procdure because they are too old and it’s a waste of money to provide them with the standard of care. These patients are to receive palliative care only and be sent home to die. Just one of the regulations buried deep in the 1700 pages of legislation of Obama care.

My apologies to the rest of you readers for not sticking to the current issues under discussion. This was my only way of contacting him to bring more evidence of the truth. God bless all of you!

Posted by Dom C on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 11:20 PM (EDT):

Patti - you hit the nail on the head: “Therefore, I challenge YOU, all of you who read this, to be those teachers of the Catholic faith that we so desperately need.”

The priests can’t do it by themselves. There no longer are enough of them to do it, even if they weren’t afraid of running of some parishioners because of their (the priests) speaking the truth. I’m not saying that all priests are walking a politically correct line, but enough of them are, from what I observe in attending mass around the country as I travel on biz, that the message really is not getting out. They don’t want to alienate anyone.

I think it’s going to take lay people like some of us on this site to draw the proverbial line in the sand and educate people. Not an easy job, and probably one that will draw more than a bit of derision from those who are not so orthodox in their beliefs. It must be done, though.

Posted by Dave Rusch on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 11:09 PM (EDT):

The ‘Gates’ of hell are paved by the contraceptive mentality and the ‘Human Weed’ syndrome of PP. Enough

Posted by Claire from Delaware on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 9:48 PM (EDT):

Pete, you wrote: “For most Catholics the Sunday homily is the only time they have a chance to hear anything about Catholic teaching and the priests won’t teach.” I disagree. Anyone able to use the internet or read the CCC can get excellent info about Catholic teaching. The problem is Catholics who aren’t willing to inform their consciences. They hear the church teaches such and such and immediately disagree instead of investigating the reasons behind the teaching. My parish has over 300 families. When sessions are offered for adults to increase their knowledge about Catholic issues there are rarely 20 people in attendance. The Sunday homily is supposed to be on the scripture readings and to challenge us to apply them to our lives. The Sunday sermon should not be the only time Catholic adults think about how God’s will is to be lived in our daily lives.

Posted by John on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 6:02 PM (EDT):

It’s really up to her Bishop to correct her. Assuming she attends Mass.

The Vatican should - in fact, needs to - issue a statement rebutting Melinda Gate’s arguments using Catholic teachings. One of the problems I find as an ‘in the trenches’ pro-life advocate is that so many people who go to church every weekend use people like Melinda Gates, Joe Biden, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro (a couple of ‘Catholic’ legislators from my state) and others in public office to justify supporting abortion as a ‘necessary’ evil.

If our leadership in the United States had not been so lax, we would not be here now. I am sorry to say this, but some of the blood of the innocent is on the hands of those bishops who did not stand up and fight.

I am glad they are in the fray now - but we could have used them a few years ago….

Posted by Juliana Gonzalez on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 4:21 PM (EDT):

Fantastic article, Mr.Hoopes, you are so right in everything you say!

Posted by Frank on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 4:01 PM (EDT):

Where is her bold and faithful bishop stating that she is to be refused Eucharist until she publicly repents? The bishops make a noise in general, but when Ted Kennedy or Joe Biden show up in line, they allow them to receive as though they knew nothing about their grave public sins…first of all obstinate pride. Why should the flock take bishops seriously when they refuse to boldly stand face-to-face with someone and say “You have denied yourself right to this, and neither I nor any of my priests will allow you to partake.”?

Posted by Starzec on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 3:46 PM (EDT):

An earlier comment summed it up best: Why cannot it not be both an increase in resources and a reduction in those receiving the resources? Eistein said you cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war. You cannot continue to pump resources into a situation without a strategy to end the situation.
Now to the point that many make- however erroneously- that contraception is akin to abortion, I say this: WRONG. Contraception actually prevents abortion and certain contraception prevents diseases too. Abstinence and the church sanctioned rhythm method are forms of contraception like it or not. So the Church once again contradicts itself.
Along these same lines, biologically a male produces thousands of sperm during intercourse yet only one gets to fertilize the egg. Since abstinence is the only form of contraception 100% effective, couldn’t we say God contraception and all man has done is improve on that design?

Posted by richT on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 3:33 PM (EDT):

wow-just had to comment having just read Lynn’s post. ...use words we understand the definition of? Are you implying we are plain stupid or just poorly educated? Suggesting our failing is due to catholic education? Some of us went to the ‘state’ school system…still think we poorly educated? We know you are not trying to force everyone from using contraception-only make it available to those who desire it…that’s part of the problem…why should should I pay for your contraception? You have no ‘right’ to it..pay for it yourself! Are you willing to pay for my children’s college tuition-I have 5 of them-that might come to about $250,000-a year-oh, and you are so certain you and Mrs. Gates have a better understanding of what’s going on in Africa than the Vatican? Clearly there’s a corrupt culture going on there destroying the lives of many young women…that’s why the Catholic church is there trying to bring a culture of life to the people-not to eliminate its’ next generation. Who doesn’t acknowledge the horror that is AIDS?-the question is what to do about it-the church isn’t run by a bunch of MEN as you described- it belongs to Christ -why don’t you ask HIM what He thinks of abortion….

Posted by K.C Thomas on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 2:08 PM (EDT):

Everyone wants to be successful in life. Success means ample material possession and ample pleasures of life. However Jesus showed us a different way. He is not against rich, but he says that they have a responsibilty towards their less privileged brethren. Jesus said he did not have a place to lay his head, he did not own houses or other properties, he suffered pain and humiliation He says that we have to bear our cross and walk, if we want to follow him. The world has enough to feed all its people, enough of everything, but some have kept most of it denying others. When people in America wastes lot of food and other items, people in Africa and some parts of Asia hunger for food and many necessities. We forget the teachings of Jesus and run to be successful. Mother Teresa used to say” I do not want to be successful, I want to be faithful” If we seek righteousness, God will add everything to us.

Posted by Amanda on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 2:06 PM (EDT):

“They go to cultures that see children as a blessing to be welcomed and teach them to see children as a threat to be blocked. They go to cultures that are marked by joy and life and teach them our Western ways, which are marked by depression and the culture of death.”

NO NO NO! Melinda Gates traveled to Africa and saw women who had too many children to feed who were walking miles with all of their children in toe to get to a clinic that could provide them birth control. They wanted birth control and Melinda Gates is responding.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING DOESN’T WORK FOR WOMEN WHO ARE COERCED.

Posted by Kathleen on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 1:42 PM (EDT):

I worked in Mozambique, 1974-1975, when it became a Marxist state and anti-Church and anti-American.

The Catholics did more good to help the indigenous people than any others, including the colonial Portuguese, although yes, they made severe mistakes as well.

The greatest treasure of an African family are their children. And, likewise, they have a high infant mortality rate. Indeed, the average life span in Mozambique at that time was 45 years, so everybody’s time there was quite brief in this world.

I kept in close contact with the missionaries there for many years.

Looking back, yes, there is the traditionalism of the natives—not wanting to change and learn, tribalism, as well as their own omission of how difficult it is for them to survive regarding climate and diseases.

But it was foreign ideologies, East vs West, Marxism vs colonialism, that pretty much destroyed their infrastructure. It is foreign conflicts and brute profit, workers getting little pay and working in inhumane conditions, that are the real problems.

Posted by Mark Kamoski on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 1:37 PM (EDT):

The promotion of contraceptives to Third World countries is tantamount to eugenics.

Posted by ALICIA on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 12:47 PM (EDT):

She certainty have done (and still doing) her “part” in promoting this very wrong and immoral thing call contraception and family planning, not to mention deceitful to women into thinking they have the so called “freedom” while ignoring the consequences that is often too costly. Since she is playing her role pretty well because she has money, power and fame. Those things are nothing in comparison to what we have, GOD!!! “When God is with us, who can be against us?”

Posted by Lucy lee de Cortez on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 12:28 PM (EDT):

Lets be honest.

Who is Melinda Gates?
A rich housewife, with plenty of servants.

What has she ever done?
Marry a computer whiz

What’s her hobby?
Telling us poens how to live.

Posted by Rafael on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 12:20 PM (EDT):

This Melinda Gates character sounds like a “re-incarnated” Margret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, which was solely inteded to erradicate the black population in the United States. I guess it’s going global now.

This is classic secularism being packaged as “catholic” (small “c” because it doesn’t deserve the capital “C”). This false “social justice” gospel is no different than the “gospel of prosperity,” the “homosexual gospel,” the “abortion-in-cases-of-incest-and-rape gospel”, the “women’s-ordination-of priests gospel”, the “I’m-personally-against-it-but-I-don’t-want-to-impose-my-beliefs-on-anyone-gospel.” At this rate, we can bring back the Gnostic gospels and give them these new names. Progressive catholics will thinks it’s a conspiracy that the Vatican has known about these “gospels” all along. But they were just hiding them from us. They might even make a movie about it: “The John F. Kennedy Code.”

Posted by Modest Proposer on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 12:02 PM (EDT):

A more efficient approach for the Gates Foundation to consider is dropping Zyclon B from airplanes all over the continent of Africa. No need to jawbone the stupid poor people.

Posted by Patti on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 11:54 AM (EDT):

Good point Pete. But the real question is: Why is it that “For most Catholics the Sunday homily is the only time they have a chance to hear anything about Catholic teaching”? That is, why aren’t we being encouraged to do more at our parishes, in our family life and in our communities in any number of ways? Who is going to teach our children if we don’t teach them ourselves - the TV, internet, secular teachers and friends!
.
Therefore, I challenge YOU, all of you who read this, to be those teachers of the Catholic faith that we so desperately need. If you don’t feel that you are qualified, then get some training and learn what the Church teaches. Don’t be worried that you don’t have all the answers, but be open to finding the answers out and getting back with whoever posed the question because the real tragedy would be leaving the question unanswered.

Posted by Kim Dernovsek MD on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 11:24 AM (EDT):

Universal Chastity Education (UCE) is a non-profit organization that has been bringing the ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful through Christ) message to countries in Africa since co-founded with Ugandans in 2004. Our outreach programs have reached youth in Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania and over 140,000 have signed commitments to chastity. UCE has the unanimous endorsement of the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) which is co-chaired by the Archbishops of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox churches. Cardinal Wamala has endorsed UCE. We pray that Melinda Gates and the Gates Foundation would get behind our message. Until then, we depend on all of you. It is through your generosity that will reach the people of Africa with this life-saving message. God Bless you. Kim K Dernovsek MD, Director, Universal Chastity Education http://www.uceglobal.org

Posted by Edward A. Hara on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 10:47 AM (EDT):

When was the last time you heard any type of sermon in a parish which taught the Catholic faith to the people? All I hear are platitudes. We need challenging sermons, sermons that make us understand what we believe and why we believe it. More than that, we need challenges to us to go out into the “highways and byways” and “compell them to come to the wedding feast of the Lamb”

Why do ou think that Evangelical assemblies are so big and over 50% of their people are X Catholics (which should be a SCANDAL to the bishops)? It’s because they teach their people in sermons what to believe, give them their proof texts (even if they are wrong) and send them out to “save souls for Jesus.” And the Catholics who answer their knock at the door never know what has hit them.

This is what is happening in Brazil as the Pentecostals are there stealing Christ’s sheep from His Church. Why are the Catholics in Brazil not zealous for the faith? Why don’t they know how to defend it and send these Pentecostal heretics packing with sharp and well thought out answers for their theological nonsense?

BECAUSE THEY HAVEN’T BEEN TAUGHT!!!

Most Catholics can’t wait for Mass to be over with so they can get home and turn on the NFL or go shopping (which is prohibited by the Catechism, incidentally!!!) If they were subjected to a real sermon in which the priest took a subject, such as contraception, and gave a 45 minute sermon on it with exhaustive teaching, you would hear the howls of outrage for a week!!

We are getting what we deserve. Holy Mother Church deserves better Catholics than we have been for the last 200 years in this country!

Posted by New Yorker on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 9:39 AM (EDT):

Pete, you make a great point. Could not agree more. Priests on a parish level have to articulate the reasons behind the church’s teachings - and they are very good reasons.

Posted by JMJ on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 9:25 AM (EDT):

Why is it that those such as the Gates and CO-WALKER want to reduce the population against God’s wishes, but, fully in line with the devil’s desires, won’t do the world a favor and just themselves depart from here and allow the rest of God’s children be allowed to use the water, food, air, etc. that God has given us? It is obvious that they are not familiar with the Command of God when He told Adam and Eve to be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28), just the opposite of the devil’s command: destroy all of God’s creation. Both Gates and Co-walker claim to be Catholics, but, neither one of them are. GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED and as Isaiah has told us: the Day of the Lord is coming (13:6-13) and it will be a cruel day, far worse the the cruelty of those that want to eliminate God’s children. Another note about Gates’s lies that she mentioned: why was it that the Israelites married young and the girls had very high birth-rates? Remember these girls were in their early teens. +JMJ+

Posted by richT on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 9:13 AM (EDT):

No one is brainwashed either way.We all make our own personal decisions to decide what is true. Mrs. Gates has made her ‘choice’.As Catholics true to the church, we make a different choice. I just can’t explain how anyone who goes up to communion and hears the priest say that ‘This Is The Body Of Christ’ and then say Amen-I believe this- receive the Eucharist, go back to their pew, then persevere to support the murder of unborn brothers and sisters in the very same Christ.

Posted by Eliza on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 7:34 AM (EDT):

The correct title of the book cited is “Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It” by Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin.

Posted by Lynn on Friday, Jul 27, 2012 1:20 AM (EDT):

There are so many lies and distortions in this article, I do not even know where to begin…so I’ll just hit a couple of the worst.
First, if you are going to name-call, you might want to use a word you understand the definition of.
No one is trying to force everyone to use contraception, just make it available to those who want. I think a church trying to deny something to people based on that church’s belief (a belief shared by few), far more fits under the definition of “imperialism”.
Second, Ms. Gates obviously has a far better grasp of what is going on in Africa than the article author. I have been to Africa. The AIDs problem is horrific in some areas, and sadly in many places men still have multiple wives or it is deemed okay to be unfaithful.
Yes, that is wrong and needs to be fixed, but in the meantime what true Christian would sentence a woman to death through AIDs by saying she cannot use a condom to protect herself when she knows her husband might expose her.
Finally, twisting the support of contraception for young girls into not wanting to protect them is ridiculous. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t want that culture to change…many of them are forced into marriage at ridiculously young ages with much older men, when the men die they have huge families they had no choice over to support alone. It’s sick, but it has proven a hard culture to change and while that culture changes we DO still need to protect the girls now.
If they are already going to be forced into marriage and sex, at least allow them the choice to not to have children when they are so young it could kill them, or when even if they do live, having so many children so young makes it harder for them to support themselves and feed their families.
It’s pretty ridiculous the bunch of MEN who run the Catholic church, who have never risked disease, possible death in childbirth, or having too many children they can’t feed are so concerned that poor women in Africa might get birth control!

Posted by sflory on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 11:18 PM (EDT):

Melinda Gates July 26, 2012
It is sad to see that the Gates woman is widely promoting her twisted philosophy about helping poor nations to improve their economies by using contraceptives, abortion and euthanasia. It is also disgusting to see her proclaim her status as a practicing Catholic while she purposely defies the teachings of the Catholic Church on these practices. She is like a lot of Catholics in name only who want to be called Catholic and choose the teachings of the Church that they want to accept. They are really heretics. Considering the magnitude of her worldwide goals I hope her Bishop has the courage to excommunicate her. Calling herself a Catholic along with her scandalous wealth works for her to get maximum attention for whatever she says. This also helps the Media to enthusiastically focus on potential divisions within the Church and assures wide attention to the stories. I am not sure all Catholic women understand that the HHS contraceptive dispute is not a war between the Church and women, but is rather a war between the government and the Church about religious freedom. The government cleverly tried to confuse the issue and win support for its anti-religious freedom campaign.

Posted by greg on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 7:35 PM (EDT):

You are correct, Pete, the Church has done a poor job in teaching its beliefs to the new generations. How often do we hear about abortions, homosexuality, and premarital sex discussed by our local priests?

Posted by Pete on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 5:12 PM (EDT):

The media is always happy to say someone is Catholic when they are going against Church teaching.

Catholics in America don’t know what the Catholic Church teaches. We haven’t been taught anything that has to do with these issues. Priests shy away from anything controversial in their homilies. For most Catholics the Sunday homily is the only time they have a chance to hear anything about Catholic teaching and the priests won’t teach.

Posted by mary christie on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 3:53 PM (EDT):

Let us pray that these cultures will reject Melinda Gates and her pills. Will Melinda be around when breast cancer and other illness start to strike in great number? Melinda is so grand that she thinks she can take on and down the Catholic Chruch and our dear Pope. I guess she better read Matthew 16:18 or Genesis. Who is really the INTOLERANT one in the world. Who reall thinks they are the superior race? Let us pray that we will have respect for all God’s children and help them not hurt them.

Jesus Mary and Joseph pray for us.

Posted by Gary on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 3:49 PM (EDT):

I have seen commercials on tv asking for people to call a phone number on the tv screen. About the negative effects of birth contoll pill by a certain brand name. So if there are law suites and compensation for negative side effects of certain birth control pills. I conclude contraceptives are not good for women. Mlinda Gates is just brain washed in believing that contraceptives are beniflcal when the pills are not benifical.

Posted by cowalker on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 3:14 PM (EDT):

“The Church believes that rich nations should increase the availability of resources to the poor. Family planners believe that rich nations should reduce the number of human beings using resources.”

Why wouldn’t it be most effective to do both? Gates was once quoted as saying that she and Bill knew that poor women wanted children, and would not reduce the number in their families until the death rate of children was reduced. Therefore they funded vaccination programs for the poor around the world. The result is the same in population numbers but you avoid the suffering of parents losing chidren to preventable diseases. Instead you plan on a smaller family where most of the children grow to adulthood.

Why pretend it’s an either/or situation?

Posted by Chris Halasz on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 3:10 PM (EDT):

There’s no such a thing as “useful idiots”— there are only those who never heard their true calling because they are misled to pursue the wrong career endeavors for faulty reasons.

Posted by Eileen on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 1:39 PM (EDT):

There was a time when, if a public person decided to promote something they knew to be against Church doctrine, they hid the fact that they were Catholic. Today, that they were baptized Catholic, is the first statement made following their name. Are they trying to cling to Catholic identity and making the claim that Catholic and secular beliefs co-exist with no conflict. This very “nuns on the bus” ideology, also prevalent in the government, expresses the pick and choose Catholicism so prevalent across the US and Europe.

Posted by Bob Gravlin on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 1:31 PM (EDT):

The sad reality is that just as Satan told Jesus that he had power over the world and it’s kingdoms, Matthew chapter 4 vs. 8-10, so Satan has many “Useful Idiots” who he rewards well, and we Christians are called to trust that God will reward the faithful even when things seem dark.

Posted by Chris Halasz on Thursday, Jul 26, 2012 12:52 PM (EDT):

There’s PR projection, and then there are facts. For some of us, the definition of “facts” is transient; it’s what we tell people to think about our characters. For others, “facts” are right there; it’s all about the life we live each day. What happens when we have money, is our character is amplified and we get more of the same thing on a larger scale. That’s how life works.

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